,,medici'999999                         
,transcribed from the #ahih ,oliphant   
,anderson  ,ferrier edition by ,david   
,price1 email ccx#jgd;coventry4ac4uk    
,,sir ,,thomas ,,browne ,,and ,,his     
',,religio ,,medici'3 an ,appreciation  
with some of the best passages of the   
,physician's ,writings selected and     
arranged by ,alexander ,whyte  ,d4 ,d4  
,illustration from #afdb edition of     
,religio ,medici3 ill4jpg    ,oliphant  
,anderson  ,ferrier    ,saint ,mary     
,street1 ,edinburgh1 and  #ba           
,paternoster ,square1 ,london  #ahih    
,,dedicated ,,to  ,,sir ,,thomas        
,,grainger ,,stewart  ,,president ,,of  
,,the ,,british ,,medical ,,association 
,,at ,,whose ,,request ,,this           
,,appreciation ,,was ,,delivered ,,as   
,,the ,,inaugural ,,discourse  ,,at     
,,the ,,opening ,,meeting ,,of ,,the    
,,association  ,,in ,,st4 ,,giles'      
,,cathedral ,,on ,,the #bf,,th ,,july   
#ahih  ,,in ,,great ,,good-,,will ,,and 
,,love ,,by  ,,alexander ,,whyte        

,,appreciation ,,and ,,introduction     
,the ,religio ,medici is a universally  
recognised ,english classic4  ,and  the 
,urn-,burial1 the ,christian ,morals1   
and the ,letter to a ,friend  are all   
quite worthy to take their stand beside 
the ,religio ,medici4  ,sir  ,thomas    
,browne made several other contributions
 to ,english literature  besides these  
masterpieces2 but it is on the ,religio 
,medici1 and on  what ,sir ,thomas      
himself calls 'other pieces of affinity 
thereto1' that  his sure fame as a      
writer of noble truth and stately       
,english most  securely rests4  ,sir    
,thomas ,browne was a physician of high 
standing and  large practice all his    
days2 and he was an antiquarian and     
scientific  writer of the foremost      
information and authority3 but it is the
  extraordinary depth and riches and    
imaginative sweep of his mind1 and his  
rare wisdom and wealth of heart1 and his
 quite wonderful ,english style1  that  
have all combined together to seal ,sir 

,thomas ,browne with his well-  earned  
immortality4    ,sir ,thomas ,browne's  
outward life can be told in a very few  
words4  ,he was  born at ,london in     
#afje4  ,he lost his father very early1 
and it must have  been a very great     
loss4  ,for the old mercer was wont to  
creep up to his  little son's cradle    
when he was asleep1 and uncover and kiss
 the child's  breast1 and pray1 'as 'tis
 said of ,origen's father1 that the     
,holy ,ghost  would at once take        
possession there4'  ,the old merchant   
was able to leave  money enough to take 
his gifted son first to ,winchester     
,school1 and then  to ,oxford1 where he 
graduated in ,new ,pembroke in #afbf4   
,on young ,browne's  graduation1 old    
,anthony a ,wood has this remark1 that  
those who love  ,pembroke best can wish 
it nothing better than that it may long 
proceed as  it has thus begun4  ,as soon
 as he had taken his university degree  
young  ,browne entered on the study of  
medicine3 and1 in pursuit of that fast- 

rising science1 he visited and studied  
in the most famous schools of  ,france  
and ,italy and ,holland4  ,after various
 changes of residence1  through all of  
which it is somewhat difficult to trace 
the young  physician's movements1 we    
find him at last fairly settled in the  
city of  ,norwich1 where he spent the   
remainder of his long1 and busy1 and    
prosperous1 and honourable life4    ,dr4
 ,johnson laments that ,sir ,thomas     
,browne has left us no record of his    
travels and studies abroad1 and all ,sir
 ,thomas's readers will join with  his  
great biographer in that regret4  ,at   
the same time1 as we turn over  the pile
 of letters that ,sir ,thomas sent to   
his student son ,edward1 and  to his    
sailor son ,thomas1 when they were      
abroad at school and on ship1 we  can   
easily collect and picture to ourselves 
the life that the writer of  those so   
wise and so beautiful letters led when  
he himself was still a  student at      
,montpellier and ,padua and ,leyden4    

',honest ,tom1--,god bless  thee1 and   
protect thee1 and mercifully lead thee  
through the ways of ,his  providence4   
,be diligent in going to church4  ,be   
constant1 and not  negligent in your    
daily private prayers4  ,be a good      
husband4  ,cast up  your accounts with  
all care4  ,be temperate in diet1 and be
 wary not to  overheat yourself4  ,be   
courteous and civil to all4  ,live with 
an  apothecary1 and observe his drugs   
and practice4  ,frequent civil company4 
,point your letters1 and put periods at 
the ends of your sentences4  ,have  the 
love and the fear of ,god ever before   
your eyes4  ,and may ,god confirm  your 
faith in ,christ4  ,observe the manner  
of trade3 how they make wine  and       
vinegar1 and keep a note of all that for
 me4  ,be courteous and humble  in all  
your conversation1 and of good manners3 
which he that learneth not  in ,france  
travaileth in vain4  ,when at sea read  
good books4  ,without good  books time  
cannot be well spent in those great     

ships4  ,learn the stars  also3 the     
particular coasts3 the depth of the     
road-steads3 and the  risings and       
fallings of the land4  ,enquire further 
about the mineral  water3 and take      
notice of such plants as you meet with4 
,i am told that  you are looked on in   
the ,service as exceeding faithful1     
valiant1  diligent1 generous1 vigilant1 
observing1 very knowing1 and a scholar4 
,when you first took to this manner of  
life1 you cannot but remember that  ,i  
caused you to read all the sea-fights of
 note in ,plutarch3 and1 withal1  gave  
you the description of fortitude left by
 ,aristotle4  ,in places take  notice of
 the government of them1 and the eminent
 persons4  ,the merciful  providence of 
,god ever go with you1 and direct and   
bless you1 and give  you ever a grateful
 heart toward ,him4  ,i send you        
,lucretius3 and with it  ,tully's       
,offices3 'tis as remarkable for its    
little size as for the good  matter     
contained in it1 and the authentic and  

classical ,latin4  ,i hope  you do not  
forget to carry a ,greek ,testament     
always to church3 a man  learns two     
things together1 and profiteth doubly1  
in the language and the  subject4  ,god 
send us to number our days1 and to fit  
ourselves for a  better world4  ,times  
look troublesome3 but you have an honest
 and  peaceable profession like myself1 
which may well employ you1 and you have 
discretion to guide your words and      
actions4  ,may ,god be reconciled to us1
  and give us grace to forsake our sins 
which set fire to all things4  ,you     
shall never want my daily prayers1 and  
also frequent letters4'  ,and so  on1   
through a delightful sheaf of letters to
 his two sons3 and out of  which a fine 
picture rises before us1 both of ,sir   
,thomas's own student  life abroad1 as  
well as of the footing on which the now 
famous physician  and ,english author   
stood with his student and sailor sons4 
99 99 99 99 99    ,you might read every 
word of ,sir ,thomas ,browne's writings 

and never  discover that a sword had    
been unsheathed or a shot fired in      
,england all  the time he was living and
 writing there4  ,it was the            
half-century of the  terrible civil war 
for political and religious liberty3 but
 ,sir ,thomas  ,browne would seem to    
have possessed all the political and    
religious  liberty he needed4  ,at any  
rate1 he never took open part on either 
side  in the great contest4  ,sir       
,thomas ,browne was not made of the hot 
metal  and the stern stuff of ,john     
,milton4  ,all through those terrible   
years  ,browne lived securely in his    
laboratory1 and in his library1 and in  
his  closet4  ,richard ,baxter's        
,autobiography is as full of gunpowder  
as if  it had been written in an        
army-chaplain's tent1 as indeed it was4 
,but  both ,bunyan's ,grace ,abounding  
and ,browne's ,religio ,medici might    
have  been written in the ,bedford or   
,norwich of our own peaceful day4  ,all 
men  are not made to be soldiers and    

statesmen3 and it is no man's duty to   
attempt to be what he was not made to   
be4  ,every man has his own talent1  and
 his corresponding and consequent duty  
and obligation4  ,and both  ,bunyan and 
,browne had their own talent1 and their 
own consequent duty and  obligation1    
just as ,cromwell and ,milton and       
,baxter had theirs4  ,enough1  and more 
than enough1 if it shall be said to them
 all on that day1 ,well  done4    ',my  
life1' says ,sir ,thomas1 in opening one
 of the noblest chapters of his  noblest
 book1 'is a miracle of thirty years1   
which to relate were not a  history1 but
 a piece of poetry2 and it would sound  
to common ears like a  fable4'  ,now1 as
 all ,sir ,thomas's readers must know1  
the most  extraordinary criticisms and  
comments have been made on those devout 
and  thankful words of his concerning   
himself4  ,dr4 ,samuel ,johnson's were  
not  common ears1 but even he comments  
on these beautiful words with a wooden- 
headedness almost past belief4  ,for1   

surely the thirty years of  schoolboy1  
and student1 and opening professional   
life that resulted in  the production of
 such a masterpiece as the ,religio     
,medici was a  miracle both of ,god's   
providence and ,god's grace1 enough to  
justify him  who had experienced all    
that in acknowledging it to ,god's glory
 and to  the unburdening of his own     
heart1 so richly loaded with ,god's     
benefits4  ,and1 how a man of ,samuel   
,johnson's insight1 good sense1 and     
pious feeling  could have so missed the 
mark in this case1 ,i cannot understand4
  ,all the  more that both the chapter  
so complained about1 and the whole book 
to  which that chapter belongs1 are full
 of the same thankful1 devout1 and      
adoring sentiment4  ',the world that ,i 
regard1' ,sir ,thomas proceeds1 'is     
myself4  ,men that look upon my outside1
 and who peruse only my conditions  and 
my fortunes1 do err in my altitude4     
,there is surely a piece of  divinity in
 us all2 something that was before the  

elements1 and which  owes no homage unto
 the sun4'  ,and again1 ',we carry with 
us the wonders  we seek without us4     
,there is all ,africa and all its       
prodigies in us all4  ,we are that bold 
and adventurous piece of nature1 which  
he that studies  wisely learns1 in a    
compendium1 what others labour at in a  
divided piece  and endless volume4'     
,and again1 ',there is another way of   
,god's  providence full of meanders and 
labyrinths and obscure methods3 that    
serpentine and crooked line3 that       
cryptic and involved method of ,his     
providence which ,i have ever admired4  
,surely there are in every man's  life  
certain rubs1 and doublings1 and        
wrenches1 which1 well examined1 do      
prove the pure hand of ,god4  ,and to be
 true1 and to speak out my soul1  when  
,i survey the occurrences of my own     
life1 and call into account the  finger 
of ,god1 ,i can perceive nothing but an 
abyss and a mass of mercies4  ,and those
 which others term crosses1 and         

afflictions1 and judgments1 and         
misfortunes1 to me they both appear1 and
 in event have ever proved1 the  secret 
and dissembled favours of ,his          
affection4'  ,and in the ,christian     
,morals3 ',annihilate not the mercies of
 ,god by the oblivion of  ingratitude4  
,make not thy head a grave1 but a       
repository of ,god's  mercies4          
,register not only strange1 but all     
merciful occurrences4  ,let  thy diaries
 stand thick with dutiful mementoes and 
asterisks of  acknowledgment4  ,and to  
be complete and to forget nothing1 date 
not ,his  mercy from thy nativity3 look 
beyond this world1 and before the era of
  ,adam4  ,and mark well the winding    
ways of providence4  ,for that hand     
writes often by abbreviations1          
hieroglyphics1 and short characters1    
which1 like the laconism on             
,belshazzar's wall1 are not to be made  
out but  by a key from that ,spirit that
 indited them4'  ,and yet again1 ',to   
thoughtful observers the whole world is 

one phylactery1 and everything we  see  
an item of the wisdom1 and power1 and   
goodness of ,god4'  ,how any man1  not  
to speak of one of the wisest and best  
of men1 such as ,samuel ,johnson  was1  
could read all that1 and still stagger  
at ,sir ,thomas ,browne holding  himself
 to be a living miracle of the power1   
and the love1 and the grace  of ,god1   
passes my understanding4    ,we have    
seen in his own noble words how ,sir    
,thomas ,browne's life appeared  to     
himself4  ,let us now look at how he    
appeared to other observing men4  ,the  
,rev4 ,john ,whitefoot1 the close and   
lifelong friend of ,sir ,thomas1 has    
left us this lifelike portrait of the   
author of ,religio ,medici4  ',for a    
character of his person1 his complexion 
and his hair were answerable to  his    
name1 his stature was moderate1 and his 
habit of body neither fat nor  lean1 but
 ,greek text4  ,in his habit of clothing
 he had an aversion to  all finery1 and 
affected plainness4  ,he ever wore a    

cloke1 or boots1 when  few others did4  
,he kept himself always very warm1 and  
thought it most  safe so to do4  ,the   
horizon of his understanding was much   
larger than the  hemisphere of the      
world3 all that was visible in the      
heavens he  comprehended so well1 that  
few that are under them knew so much4   
,and of  the earth he had such a minute 
and exact geographical knowledge as if  
he  had been by divine providence       
ordained surveyor-general of the whole  
terrestrial orb and its products1       
minerals1 plants1 and animals4  ,his    
memory1 though not so eminent as that of
 ,seneca or ,scaliger1 was  capacious   
and tenacious1 insomuch that he         
remembered all that was  remarkable in  
any book he ever read4  ,he had no      
despotical power over his  affections   
and passions1 that was a privilege of   
original perfection1 but  as large a    
political power over them as any stoic  
or man of his time1  whereof he gave so 
great experiment that he hath very      

rarely been known  to have been         
overpowered with any of them4  ,his     
aspect and conversation  were grave and 
sober2 there was never to be seen in him
 anything trite or  vulgar4             
,parsimonious in nothing but his time1  
whereof he made as much  improvement1   
with as little loss as any man in it1   
when he had any to  spare from his      
drudging practice1 he was scarce patient
 of any diversion  from his study3 so   
impatient of sloth and idleness1 that he
 would say1 he  could not do nothing4   
,he attended the public service very    
constantly1  when he was not withheld by
 his practice4  ,never missed the       
sacrament in  his parish1 if he were in 
town4  ,read the best ,english sermons  
he could  hear of with liberal applause3
 and delighted not in controversies4    
,his  patience was founded upon the     
,christian philosophy1 and sound faith  
of  ,god's providence1 and a meek and   
humble submission thereto4  ,i visited  
him near his end1 when he had not       

strength to hear or speak much3 and the 
last words ,i heard from him were1      
besides some expressions of dearness1   
that he did freely submit to the will of
 ,god3 being without fear4  ,he had  oft
 triumphed over the king of terrors in  
others1 and given him many  repulses in 
the defence of patients2 but when his   
own time came1 he  submitted with a     
meek1 rational1 religious courage4'     
,taking ,sir ,thomas ,browne all in all1
 ,tertullian1 ,sir ,thomas's favourite  
,father1 has supplied us1 as it seems to
 me1 with his whole life and  character 
in these so expressive and so           
comprehensive words of his1  ,anima     
naturaliter ,christiana4  ,in these     
three words1 when well weighed  and     
fully opened up1 we have the whole      
author of the ,religio ,medici1  the    
,christian ,morals1 and the ,letter to a
 ,friend4  ,anima naturaliter           
,christiana4    99 99 99 99 99    ,the  
,religio ,medici was ,sir ,thomas       
,browne's first book1 and it remains  by

 far his best book4  ,his other books   
acquire their value and take their  rank
 just according to the degree of their  
'affinity' to the ,religio  ,medici4    
,sir ,thomas ,browne is at his best when
 he is most alone with  himself4  ,there
 is no subject that interests him so    
much as ,sir ,thomas  ,browne4  ,and if 
you will forget yourself in ,sir ,thomas
 ,browne1 and in his  conversations     
which he holds with himself1 you will   
find a rare and an  ever fresh delight  
in the ,religio ,medici4  ,sir ,thomas  
is one of the  greatest egotists of     
literature--to use a necessary but an   
unpopular and  a misleading epithet4    
,hazlitt has it that there have only    
been but three  perfect1 absolute1 and  
unapproached egotists in all            
literature--,cellini1  ,montaigne1 and  
,wordsworth4  ,but why that fine critic 
leaves out ,sir  ,thomas ,browne1 ,i    
cannot understand or accept4  ,i always 
turn to ,sir  ,thomas ,browne1 far more 
than to either of ,hazlitt's canonised  

three1 when  ,i want to read what a     
great man has to tell me about himself3 
and in this  case both a great and a    
good and a ,christian man4  ,and thus1  
whatever  modification and adaptation   
may have been made in this masterpiece  
of  his1 in view of its publication1 and
 after it was first published1 the      
original essence1 most genuine          
substance1 and unique style of the book 
were all intended for its author's      
peculiar heart and private eye alone4   
,and thus it is that we have a work of a
 simplicity and a sincerity that  would 
have been impossible had its author in  
any part of his book sat  down to       
compose for the public4  ,sir ,thomas   
,browne lived so much within  himself1  
that he was both secret writer and sole 
reader to himself4  ,his  great book is 
'a private exercise directed solely1' as
 he himself says1  'to himself3 it is a 
memorial addressed to himself rather    
than an example  or a rule directed to  
any other man4'  ,and it is only he who 

opens the  ,religio ,medici honestly and
 easily believing that1 and glad to have
  such a secret and sincere and devout  
book in his hand1--it is only he who    
will truly enjoy the book1 and who will 
gather the same gain out of it  that its
 author enjoyed and gained out of it    
himself4  ,in short1 the  properly      
prepared and absolutely ingenuous reader
 of the ,religio ,medici  must be a     
second ,thomas ,browne himself4    ',i  
am a medical man1' says ,sir ,thomas1 in
 introducing himself to us1 'and  this  
is my religion4  ,i am a physician1 and 
this is my faith1 and my  morals1 and my
 whole true and proper life4  ,the      
scandal of my profession1  the natural  
course of my studies1 and the           
indifference of my behaviour  and       
discourse in matters of religion1 might 
persuade the world that ,i had  no      
religion at all4  ,and yet1 in despite  
of all that1 ,i dare1 without           
usurpation1 assume the honourable style 
of a ,christian4'  ,and if ever any  man

 was a truly catholic ,christian1 it was
 surely ,sir ,thomas ,browne4  ,he  does
 not unchurch or ostracise any other    
man4  ,he does not stand at  diameter   
and sword's point with any other man2   
no1 not even with his  enemy4  ,he has  
never been able to alienate or          
exasperate himself from any  man        
whatsoever because of a difference of an
 opinion4  ,he has never been  angry    
with any man because his judgment in    
matters of religion did not  agree with 
his4  ,in short he has no genius for    
disputes about religion2  and he has    
often felt it to be his best wisdom to  
decline all such  disputes4  ,when his  
head was greener than it now is1 he had 
a tendency to  two or three errors in   
religion1 of which he proceeds to set   
down the  spiritual history4  ,but at no
 time did he ever maintain his own      
opinions  with pertinacity3 far less to 
inveigle or entangle any other man's    
faith2  and thus they soon died out1    
since they were only bare errors and    

single  lapses of his understanding1    
without a joint depravity of his will4  
,the  truth to ,sir ,thomas ,browne     
about all revealed religion is this1    
which he  sets forth in a deservedly    
famous passage3--',methinks there be not
  impossibilities enough in revealed    
religion for an active faith4  ,i love  
to lose myself in a mystery1 and to     
pursue my reason to an ,o altitudo6     
',tis my solitary recreation to pose my 
apprehension with those involved        
enigmas and riddles of the ,trinity1    
with incarnation and resurrection4  ,i  
can answer all the objections of ,satan 
and my rebellious reason with that  odd 
resolution ,i learned of ,tertullian1   
,certum est quia impossibile  est4  ,i  
desire to exercise my faith in the      
difficultest point2 for  anything else  
is not faith but persuasion4  ,i bless  
myself1 and am  thankful that ,i never  
saw ,christ nor ,his disciples4  ,for   
then had my  faith been thrust upon me2 
nor should ,i have enjoyed that greater 

blessing pronounced to all that believe 
and saw not4  ,they only had the        
advantage of a noble and a bold faith   
who lived before the coming of  ,christ2
 and who1 upon obscure prophecies and   
mystical types1 could raise  a belief   
and expect apparent impossibilities4    
,and since ,i was of  understanding     
enough to know that we know nothing1 my 
reason hath been  more pliable to the   
will of faith4  ,i am now content to    
understand a  mystery in an easy and    
,platonic way1 and without a            
demonstration and a  rigid definition2  
and thus ,i teach my haggard and        
unreclaimed reason to  stoop unto the   
lure of faith4'  ,the unreclaimed reader
 who is not already  allured by these   
specimens need go no further in ,sir    
,thomas ,browne's  autobiographic book4 
,but he who feels the grace and the     
truth1 the power  and the sweetness and 
the beauty of such writing1 will be glad
 to know  that the whole ,religio is    
full of such things1 and that all this  

author's religious and moral writings   
partake of the same truly ,apostolic    
and truly ,platonic character4  ,in this
 noble temper1 with the richest  mind1  
and clothed in a style that entrances   
and captivates us1 ,sir ,thomas         
proceeds to set forth his doctrine and  
experience of ,god2 of ,god's           
providence2 of ,holy ,scripture2 of     
nature and man2 of miracles and         
oracles2 of the ,holy ,ghost and holy   
angels2 of death2 and of heaven and     
hell4  ,and1 especially1 and with great 
fulness1 and victoriousness1 and        
conclusiveness1 he deals with death4    
,we sometimes amuse ourselves by  making
 a selection of the two or three books  
that we would take with us  to prison or
 to a desert island4  ,and one dying man
 here and another  there has already    
selected and set aside the proper and   
most suitable  books for his own special
 deathbed4  ',read where ,i first cast  
my anchor1'  said ,john ,knox to his    
wife1 sitting weeping at his bedside4   

,at which she  opened and read in the   
,gospel of ,john4  ,sir ,thomas ,browne 
is neither more  nor less than the very 
prose-laureate of death4  ,he writes as 
no other  man has ever written about    
death4  ,death is everywhere in all ,sir
 ,thomas  ,browne's books4  ,and yet it 
may be said of them all1 that1 like     
heaven  itself1 there is no death there4
  ,death is swallowed up in ,sir ,thomas
  ,browne's defiant faith that cannot1  
even in death1 get difficulties and     
impossibilities enough to exercise      
itself upon4  ,o death1 where is thy    
sting to ,rutherford1 and ,bunyan1 and  
,baxter1 and ,browne2 and to those who  
diet their imaginations and their hearts
 day and night at such heavenly  tables6
  ,but1 if only to see how great and    
good men differ1 ,spinoza has  this     
proposition and demonstration that a    
'free man thinks of nothing  less than  
of death4'  ,browne was a free man1 but 
he thought of nothing  more than of     
death4  ,he was of ,dante's mind--      

,the arrow seen beforehand slacks its   
flight4    ,the ,religio ,medici was    
,sir ,thomas ,browne's first book1 and  
the  ,christian ,morals was his last2   
but the two books are of such affinity  
to one another that they will always be 
thought of together4  ,only1 the  style 
that was already almost too rich for our
 modern taste in the  ,religio          
absolutely cloys and clogs us in the    
,morals4  ,the opening and  the closing 
sentences of this posthumous treatise   
will better convey a  taste of its      
strength and sweetness than any estimate
 or eulogium of  mine4  ',tread softly  
and circumspectly in this funambulatory 
track1 and  narrow path of goodness2    
pursue virtue virtuously3 leaven not    
good  actions1 nor render virtue        
disputable4  ,stain not fair acts with  
foul  intentions2 maim not uprightness  
by halting concomitances1 nor           
circumstantially deprave substantial    
goodness4  ,consider whereabout thou    
art in ,cebes' table1 or that old       

philosophical pinax of the life of man3 
whether thou art yet in the road of     
uncertainties2 whether thou hast yet    
entered the narrow gate1 got up the hill
 and asperous way which leadeth  unto   
the house of sanity2 or taken that      
purifying potion from the hand of       
sincere erudition1 which may send thee  
clear and pure away unto a  virtuous and
 happy life4'  ,and having taken his    
reader up through a  virtuous life1 ,sir
 ,thomas thus parts with him at its     
close3 ',lastly1 if  length of days be  
thy portion1 make it not thy            
expectation4  ,reckon not  upon long    
life2 think every day thy last4  ,and   
since there is something  in us that    
will still live on1 join both lives     
together1 and live in one  but for the  
other4  ,and if any hath been so happy  
as personally to  understand ,christian 
annihilation1 ecstasy1 exaltation1      
transformation1  the kiss of the spouse1
 and ingression into the divine shadow1 
according  to mystical theology1 they   

have already had an handsome            
anticipation of  heaven3 the world is in
 a manner over1 and the earth in ashes  
unto them4'  ',prose1' says ,friswell1  
'that with very little transposition1   
might make  verse quite worthy of       
,shakespeare himself4'    99 99 99 99 99
    ,the ,letter to a ,friend is an     
account of the swift and inevitable     
deathbed of one of ,sir ,thomas's       
patients3 a young man who died of a     
deceitful but a galloping consumption4  
,there is enough of old medical         
observation and opening science in the  
,letter1 as well as of sweet old        
literature1 and still sweeter old       
religion1 to make it a classic to every 
well-read doctor in the language4  ',to 
be dissolved and to be with ,christ  was
 his dying ditty4  ,he esteemed it      
enough to approach the years of his     
,saviour1 who so ordered ,his own human 
state1 as not to be old upon earth4  ,he
 that early arriveth into the parts and 
prudence of age is happily old  without 

the uncomfortable attendants of it4     
,and 'tis superfluous to live  unto grey
 hairs1 when in a precocious temper we  
anticipate the virtues of  them4  ,in   
brief1 he cannot be accounted young who 
outliveth the old man4'  ,let all young 
medical students have by heart ,sir     
,thomas ,browne's  incomparable         
,english1 and wisdom1 and piety in his  
,letter to a ,friend  upon the occasion 
of the death of his intimate ,friend4   
',this unique  morsel of literature' as 
,walter ,pater calls it4    ,the ,vulgar
 ,errors1 it must be confessed1 is      
neither very inviting1 nor  very        
rewarding to ordinary readers nowadays4 
,and that big book will only  be        
persevered in to the end by those       
readers to whom everything that ,sir    
,thomas ,browne has written is of a rare
 interest and profit4  ,the full  title 
of this now completely antiquated and   
wholly forgotten treatise is  this1     
',pseudodoxia ,epidemica1 or ,enquiries 
into very many received  ,tenets and    

commonly presumed ,truths1 which        
examined prove but ,vulgar and  ,common 
,errors4'  ,the ,first ,book of the     
,pseudodoxia is general and             
philosophical2 the ,second ,book treats 
of popular and received tenets          
concerning mineral and vegetable bodies2
 the ,third1 of popular and  received   
tenets concerning animals2 the ,fourth1 
of man2 the ,fifth1 of  many things     
questionable as they are commonly       
described in pictures1  etc42 and the   
,sixth1 of popular and received tenets1 
cosmo-graphical1  geographical1 and     
historical2 and the ,seventh1 of popular
 and received  truth1 some historical1  
and some deduced from ,holy ,scripture4 
,the  ,introductory ,book contains the  
best analysis and exposition of the     
famous  ,baconian ,idols that has ever  
been written4  ,that ,book of the       
,pseudodoxia is full of the profoundest 
philosophical principles set  forth in  
the stateliest ,english4  ,the students 
of ,whately and ,mill1 as  well as of   

,bacon1 will greatly enjoy this part of 
the ,pseudodoxia4  ,the  ,grammar of    
,assent1 also1 would seem to have had   
some of its deepest  roots in the same  
powerful1 original1 and suggestive      
,book4  ,for its day  the ,pseudodoxia  
is a perfect encyclopaedia of           
scientific1 and  historical1 and        
literary1 and even ,biblical criticism3 
the ,pseudodoxia  and the ,miscellany   
,tracts taken together4  ,some of the   
most powerful  passages that ever fell  
from ,sir ,thomas ,browne's pen are to  
be come upon  in the ,introduction to   
the ,pseudodoxia4  ,and1 with all our   
immense  advances in method and in      
discipline3 in observation and in       
discovery3 no  true student of nature   
and of man can afford to neglect the    
extraordinary  catalogue of things which
 are so characteristically treated of in
 ,sir  ,thomas ,browne's great1 if1     
nowadays1 out-grown book4  ,for one     
thing1 and  that surely not a small     
thing1 we see on every page of the      

,pseudodoxia  the labour1 as ,dr4       
,johnson so truly says1 that its author 
was always  willing to pay for the      
truth4  ,and1 as ,sir ,thomas says      
himself1 a work of  this nature is not  
to be performed upon one leg1 or without
 the smell of  oil1 if it is to be duly 
and deservedly handled4  ,it must be    
left to men  of learning and of science 
to say how far ,sir ,thomas has duly and
  deservedly handled the immense task he
 undertook in this book4  ,but ,i1  for 
one1 have read this great treatise with 
a true pride1 in seeing so  much hard   
work so liberally laid out according to 
the best light allowed  its author in   
that day4  ,as ,dr4 ,johnson has said of
 it1 ',the mistakes  that the author    
committed in the ,pseudodoxia were not  
committed by  idleness or negligence1   
but only for want of the philosophy of  
,boyle and  ,newton4'  ,who1 then1 will 
gird up his loins in our enlightened day
 to  give us a new ,pseudodoxia after   
the philosophy of ,bacon and ,boyle and 

,newton and ,ewald and ,darwin8  ,and   
after ,sir ,thomas's own philosophy1    
which he thus sets forth before himself 
in this and in all his other  studies3  
',we are not magisterial in opinions1   
nor have we dictator-like  obtruded our 
conceptions3 but1 in the humility of    
inquiries or  disquisitions1 have only  
proposed them to more ocular discerners4
  ,and we  shall so far encourage       
contradiction as to promise no          
disturbance1 or re-  oppose any pen1    
that shall fallaciously or captiously   
refute us4  ,and  shall only take notice
 of such whose experimental and         
judicious knowledge  shall be employed1 
not to traduce or extenuate1 but to     
explain and  dilucidate1 to add and     
ampliate1 according to the laudable     
custom of the  ancients in their sober  
promotions of learning4  ,unto whom1    
notwithstanding1 we shall not           
contentiously rejoin1 or only to justify
  our own1 but to applaud or confirm his
 maturer assertions2 and shall  confer  

what is in us unto his name and honour2 
ready1 for our part1 to be  swallowed up
 in any worthy enlarger3 as having our  
aid1 if any way1 or  under any name1 we 
may obtain a work1 so much desired1 and 
yet  desiderated1 of truth4'  ,shall    
this ,association1 ,i wonder1 raise up  
from  among its members1 such a worthy  
successor and enlarger of ,sir ,thomas  
,browne8    ,the title1 at least1 of the
 ,urn-,burial is more familiar to the   
most of  us than that of the            
,pseudodoxia4  ,it was the chance       
discovery of some  ancient urns in      
,norfolk that furnished ,sir ,thomas    
with the occasion to  write his         
,hydriotaphia4  ,and that classical book
 is only another  illustration of his   
enormous reading1 ready memory1 and     
intense interest  in everything that    
touches on the nature of man1 and on his
 beliefs1  habits1 and hopes in all ages
 of his existence on this earth4  ,and  
the  eloquence and splendour of this    
wonderful piece is as arresting to the  

student of style as its immense         
information is to the scholar and the   
antiquarian4  ',the conclusion of the   
essay on ,urn-,burial1' says ,carlyle1  
'is absolutely beautiful3 a still       
elegiac mood1 so soft1 so deep1 so      
solemn and tender1 like the song of some
 departed saint--an echo of  deepest    
meaning from the great and mighty       
,nations of the ,dead4  ,sir  ,thomas   
,browne must have been a good man4'     
,the ,garden of ,cyrus is past all      
description of mine4  ',the ,garden of  
,cyrus must be read4  ,it is an         
extravagant sport of a scholar of the   
first rank and a genius of the first    
water4  ',we write no herbal1' he       
begins1 and neither he does4  ,and after
 the most fantastical prose-poem  surely
 that ever was written1 he as           
fantastically winds up at midnight  with
 this3 ',to keep our eyes longer open   
were but to act our antipodes4  ,the    
huntsmen are up in ,america1 and they   
are already past their first  sleep in  

,persia4'  ,at which ,coleridge must    
incontinently whip out his  pencil till 
we have this note of his on the margin3 
',what life6 what  fancy6 what          
whimsicality6  ,was ever such a reason  
given for leaving one's  book and going 
to bed as this1 that they are already   
past their first  sleep in ,persia1 and 
that the huntsmen are up in ,america8'  
,sir ,thomas ,browne has had many       
admirers1 and his greatest admirers are 
to  be found among our foremost men4    
,he has had ,samuel ,johnson among his  
greatest admirers1 and ,coleridge1 and  
,carlyle1 and ,hazlitt1 and ,lytton1    
and ,walter ,pater1 and ,leslie         
,stephen1 and ,professor ,saintsbury2   
than whom  no one of them all has       
written better on ,browne4  ,and he has 
had princely  editors and annotators in 
,simon ,wilkin1 and ,dr4 ,greenhill1 and
 ,dr4 ,lloyd  ,roberts4  ,i must leave  
it to those eminent men to speak to you 
with all  their authority about ,sir    
,thomas ,browne's ten talents3 his      

unique natural  endowments1 his         
universal scholarship1 his philosophical
 depth1 'his  melancholy yet affable    
irony1' his professional and scientific 
attainments1 and his absolutely         
classical ,english style4  ,and ,i shall
  give myself up1 in ending this        
discourse1 to what is of much more      
importance to him and to us all1 than   
all these things taken  together1--for  
,sir ,thomas ,browne was a believing    
man1 and a man of  unfainting and       
unrelaxing prayer4  ,at the same time1  
and assuming1 as he  does1 and that     
without usurpation1 as he says1 the     
style of a ,christian1  he is in reality
 a ,theist rather than a ,christian3 he 
is a moral and a  religious writer      
rather than an evangelical and an       
experimental writer4  ,and in saying    
this1 ,i do not forget his confession of
 his faith4  ',but to  difference myself
 nearer1' he says1 and 'to draw into a  
lesser circle1  there is no ,church     
whose every part so squares unto my     

conscience3 whose  ,articles1           
,constitutions1 and ,customs seem so    
consonant unto reason1 and  as it were  
framed to my particular ,devotion1 as   
this whereof ,i hold my  ,belief1 the   
,church of ,england3 to whose faith ,i  
am a sworn subject1 and  therefore in a 
double ,obligation subscribe unto her   
,articles1 and  endeavour to observe her
 ,constitutions4'  ,the author of the   
,religio  ,medici never writes a line   
out of joint1 or out of tone or temper1 
with  that subscription4  ,at the same  
time1 his very best writings fall far   
short of the best writings of the       
,church of ,england4  ,pater1 in his    
fine  paper1 says that ',sir ,thomas    
,browne is occupied with religion first 
and  last in all he writes1 scarcely    
less so than ,hooker himself1' and that 
is  the simple truth4  ,still1 if the   
whole truth is to be told to those who  
will not make an unfair use of it1      
,richard ,hooker's religion is the whole
  ,christian religion1 in all its height

 and depth1 and grace and truth1 and    
doctrinal and evangelical fulness3 all  
of which can never be said of ,sir      
,thomas ,browne4  ,i can well imagine   
,sir ,thomas ,browne recreating himself1
  and that with an immense delectation1 
over ,hooker's superb ,first ,book4     
,how ,i wish that ,i could say as much  
about the central six chapters of       
,hooker's masterly ,fifth ,book3 as also
 about his evangelical and immortal     
,discourse of ,justification6  ,a       
well-read friend of mine suddenly said  
to me in a conversation we were holding 
the other day about ,sir ,thomas        
,browne's religion1 ',the truth is1' he 
said1 ',browne was nothing short of  a  
,pelagian1 and that largely accounts for
 his popularity on the ,continent  of   
his day4'  ,that was a stroke of true   
criticism4  ,and ,sir ,thomas's own     
,tertullian has the same thing in that  
most comprehensive and conclusive       
phrase of his3 anima naturaliter        
,christiana4  ,but1 that being admitted 

and accepted1 which must be admitted and
 accepted in the interests of the       
truth2 this also must still more be     
proclaimed1 admitted1 and accepted1     
that when he comes to ,god1 and to ,holy
 ,scripture1 and to prayer1 and to      
immortality1 ,sir ,thomas ,browne is a  
very prince of believers4  ,in all      
these great regions of things ,sir      
,thomas ,browne's faith has a height and
  a depth1 a strength and a sweep1 that 
all combine together to place him  in   
the very foremost rank of our most      
classical writers on natural and        
revealed religion4  ,hooker himself in  
some respects gives place to ,sir       
,thomas ,browne4    ',i had rather      
believe all the fables in the ,legend1  
and the ,talmud1 and  the ,alcoran1 than
 that this universal frame is without a 
mind3 and  therefore1 ,god never wrought
 miracles to convince atheism1 because  
,his  ordinary works convince it4  ,it  
is true1 that a little philosophy       
inclineth man's mind to atheism1 but    

depth in philosophy bringeth men's      
minds about to religion4'  ,the old     
proverb1 ,ubi tres medici1 duo athei1   
cast an opprobrium on the medical       
profession that can never have been     
just4  ,at the same time1 that proverb  
may be taken as proving how little  true
 philosophy there must have been at one 
time among the medical men of  ,europe4 
,whereas1 in ,sir ,thomas ,browne at any
 rate1 his philosophy was of  such a    
depth that to him1 as he repeatedly     
tells us1 atheism1 or anything  like    
atheism1 had always been absolutely     
impossible4  ',mine is that  mystical   
philosophy1 from whence no true scholar 
becomes an atheist1 but  from the       
visible effects of nature1 grows up a   
real divine1 and beholds1  not in a     
dream1 as ,ezekiel1 but in an ocular and
 visible object1 the  types of his      
resurrection4'  ,nor can he dedicate his
 ,urn-,burial to his  worthy and        
honoured friend without counselling him 
to 'run up his  thoughts upon the       

,ancient of ,days1 the antiquary's      
truest object'2 so  continually does    
,browne's imagination in all his books  
pierce into and  terminate upon ,divine 
,persons and upon unseen and eternal    
things4  ,in his  rare imagination1 ,sir
 ,thomas ,browne had the original root  
of a truly  refining1 ennobling1 and    
sanctifying faith planted in his heart  
by the  hand of ,nature herself4  ,no   
man1 indeed1 in the nature of things1   
can be  a believing ,christian man      
without imagination4  ,a believing and a
  heavenly-minded man may have a fine   
imagination without knowing that he  has
 it4  ,he may have it without knowing or
 admitting the name of it4  ,he  may    
have it1 and may be constantly employing
 it1 without being taught1  and without 
discovering1 how most nobly and most    
fruitfully to employ it4  ,not          
,shakespeare2 not ,milton2 not ,scott3  
scarcely ,tennyson or ,browning         
themselves1 knew how best to employ     
their imagination4  ,only ,dante and    

,behmen of all the foremost sons of men4
  ,only they two turned all their       
splendid and unapproached imagination to
 the true1 and full1 and final  ,objects
 of ,christian faith4  ,only to them two
 was their magnificent  imagination the 
substance of things hoped for1 and the  
evidence of things  not seen4  ,and     
though the ,religio does not at all rank
 with the  ,commedia and the ,aurora1 at
 the same time1 it springs up from1 and 
it  is strengthened and sweetened by the
 same intellectual and spiritual  root4 
,up through all 'the weeds and tares of 
his brain1' as ,sir ,thomas  himself    
calls them1 his imagination and his     
faith shot1 and sprang1 and  spread1    
till they covered with their finest     
fruits his whole mind1 and  heart1 and  
life4    ,sir ,thomas ,browne was a     
noble illustration of ,bacon's noble    
law4  ,for ,sir  ,thomas carried all his
 studies1 experiments1 and operations to
 such a  depth in his own mind1 and     
heart1 and imagination1 that he was able

 to  testify to all his                 
fellow-physicians that he who studies   
man and medicine  deeply enough will    
meet with as many intellectual1 and     
scientific1 and  religious adventures   
every day as any traveller will meet    
with in ,africa  itself4  ,as a living  
man of genius in the medical profession1
 ,dr4 ,george  ,gould1 has it in that   
wonderful ,behmenite and ,darwinian book
 of his1 ,the  ,meaning and the ,method 
of ,life1 ',a healing and a knitting    
wound1' he  argues1 'is quite as good a 
proof of ,god as a sensible mind would  
desire4'  ,this was ,sir ,thomas        
,browne's wise1 and deep1 and devout    
mind in  all parts of his professional  
and personal life4  ,and he was man     
enough1  and a man of true science and  
of true religion enough1 to warn his    
brethren against those 'academical      
reservations' to which their strong     
intellectual and professional pride1 and
 their too weak faith and  courage1     
continually tempted them4  ,nor has he1 

for his part1 any  clinical reservations
 in religion either1 as so many of his  
brethren  have4  ',i cannot go to cure  
the body of my patient1' he protests1   
'but ,i  forget my profession and call  
unto ,god for his soul4'  ,to call ,sir 
,thomas  ,browne sceptical1 as has been 
a caprice and a fashion among his merely
  literary admirers3 and to say it1 till
 it is taken for granted1 that he  is an
 ,english ,montaigne3 all that is an    
abuse of language4  ,it is1 to all  but 
a small and select circle of writers and
 readers1 utterly misleading  and       
essentially untrue4  ,and1 besides1 it  
is right in the teeth of ,sir  ,thomas's
 own emphatic1 and repeated1 and        
indignant denial and repudiation  of    
,montaigne4  ,montaigne1 with all his   
fascinations for literary men1 and  they
 are great2 and with all his services to
 them1 and they are not  small2 is both 
an immoral and an unbelieving writer4   
,whereas1 ,sir ,thomas  ,browne never   
wrote a single line1 even in his        

greenest studies1 that on  his deathbed 
he desired to blot out4  ,a purer1 a    
humbler1 a more devout  and detached    
hand never put ,english pen to paper    
than was the hand of ,sir  ,thomas      
,browne4  ,and1 if ever in his greener  
days he had a doubt about any  truth of 
natural or of revealed religion1 he     
tells us that he had fought  down every 
such doubt in his closet and on his     
knees4    ,i will not profanely         
paraphrase1 or in any way water down the
 strong  words in which ,sir ,thomas    
,browne writes to himself in his secret 
papers  about prayer4  ,all that has    
been said about this very remarkable man
 only  makes what we are now to read all
 the more remarkable and memorable4     
,all  ,sir ,thomas ,browne's readers owe
 an immense debt to ,simon ,wilkin2 and 
for  nothing more than for rescuing for 
us these golden words of this man of    
,god4  ',they were not1' says ,wilkin1  
'intended by ,browne for the perusal  of
 his son1 as so many of his private     

papers were1 or of any one else4'  ,and 
hence their priceless value4    ',to be 
sure that no day pass without calling   
upon ,god in a solemn1  fervent prayer1 
seven times within the compass thereof4 
,that is1 in the  morning1 and at night1
 and five times between4  ,taken up long
 ago from  the example of ,david and    
,daniel1 and a compunction and shame    
that ,i had  omitted it so long1 when ,i
 heedfully read of the custom of the    
,mahometans  to pray five times in the  
day4    ',to pray and magnify ,god in   
the night1 and in my dark bed1 when ,i  
cannot  sleep2 to have short            
ejaculations whenever ,i awake1 and when
 the four  o'clock bell awakens me2 or  
on my first discovery of the light1 to  
say  this collect of our liturgy1       
,eternal ,god1 who hast safely brought  
me to  the beginning of this day4 4 4 4 
',to pray in all places where privacy   
inviteth3 in any house1 highway1 or     
street3 and to know no street or passage
 in this city which may not  witness    

that ,i have not forgot ,god and my     
,saviour in it2 and that no  parish or  
town where ,i have been may not say the 
like4    ',to take occasion of praying  
upon the sight of any church which ,i   
see or  pass by as ,i ride about4       
',since the necessities of the sick1 and
 unavoidable diversions of my           
profession1 keep me often from church2  
yet to take all possible care that  ,i  
might never miss sacraments upon their  
accustomed days4    ',to pray daily and 
particularly for sick patients1 and in  
general for  others1 wheresoever1       
howsoever1 under whose care soever2 and 
at the  entrance into the house of the  
sick1 to say1 ,the peace and mercy of   
,god  be in this place4    ',after a    
sermon1 to make a thanksgiving1 and     
desire a blessing1 and to  pray for the 
minister4    ',in tempestuous weather1  
lightning1 and thunder1 either night or 
day1 to  pray for ,god's merciful       
protection upon all men1 and ,his mercy 
upon their  souls1 bodies1 and goods4   

',upon sight of beautiful persons1 to   
bless ,god for ,his creatures3 to pray  
for the beauty of their souls1 and that 
,he would enrich them with inward  grace
 to be answerable to the outward4  ,upon
 sight of deformed persons1  to pray    
,him to send them inward graces1 and to 
enrich their souls1 and  give them the  
beauty of the resurrection4'    99 99 99
 99 99    ',but the greatest of these is
 charity4'  ,charity is greater than    
great  talents4  ,charity is greater    
than great industry4  ,charity is       
greater  than great learning and great  
literature4  ,charity is greater than   
great  faith4  ,charity is greater than 
great prayer4  ,for charity is nothing  
less than the ,divine ,nature ,itself in
 the heart of man4  ,in all ,english    
literature two books stand out beside   
one another and are alone in this       
supreme respect of charity3 ,william    
,law's ,spirit of ,love1 and ,sir       
,thomas ,browne's ,religio ,medici4     
,,selected ,,passages      ,,sir        

,,thomas ,,on ,,himself      ,i have    
ever endeavoured to nourish the merciful
 disposition and humane  inclination ,i 
borrowed from my parents1 and regulate  
it to the written  and prescribed laws  
of charity2 and if ,i hold the true     
anatomy of myself1  ,i am delineated and
 naturally framed to such a piece of    
virtue4  ,for ,i am  of a constitution  
so general that it comports and         
sympathiseth with all  things2 ,i have  
no antipathy1 or rather idiosyncrasy1 in
 diet1 humour1  air1 anything4  ,i      
wonder not at the ,french for their     
dishes of frogs1  snails1 and           
toadstools2 nor at the ,jews for locusts
 and grasshoppers2 but  being amongst   
them1 make them my common viands2 and ,i
 find them agree  with my stomach as    
well as theirs4  ,i could digest a salad
 gathered in a  churchyard as well as in
 a garden4  ,i cannot start at the      
presence of a  serpent1 scorpion1       
lizard1 or salamander3 at the sight of a
 toad or viper  ,i find in me no desire 

to take up a stone to destroy them4  ,i 
feel not in  myself those common        
antipathies that ,i can discover in     
others4  ,those  national repugnances do
 not touch me1 nor do ,i behold with    
prejudice the  ,french1 ,italian1       
,spaniard1 and ,dutch3 but where ,i find
 their actions in  balance with my      
countrymen's1 ,i honour1 love1 and      
embrace them in the  same degree4  ,i   
was born in the eighth climate1 but seem
 to be framed and  constellated unto    
all4  ,i am no plant that will not      
prosper out of a  garden3 all places1   
all airs make unto me one country--,i am
 in ,england  everywhere1 and under any 
meridian4  ,i have been shipwrecked1 yet
 am not  enemy with the sea or winds4   
,i can study1 play1 or sleep in a       
tempest4  ,in brief1 ,i am averse from  
nothing3 my conscience would give me the
 lie  if ,i should absolutely detest or 
hate any essence but the devil2 or so at
  least abhor anything1 but that we     
might come to composition4    ,i am1 ,i 

confess1 naturally inclined to that     
which misguided zeal terms              
superstition3 my common conversation ,i 
do acknowledge austere1 my  behaviour   
full of rigour1 sometimes not without   
morosity2 yet at my  devotion ,i love to
 use the civility of my knee1 my hat1   
and hand1 with  all those outward and   
sensible motions which may express or   
promote my  invisible devotion4  ,i     
should violate my own arm rather than a 
church1  nor willingly deface the name  
of saint or martyr4  ,at the sight of a 
cross or crucifix ,i can dispense with  
my hat1 but scarce with the thought  or 
memory of my ,saviour3 ,i cannot laugh  
at1 but rather pity the fruitless       
journeys of pilgrims1 or contemn the    
miserable condition of friars2 for      
though misplaced in circumstances1 there
 is something in it of devotion4  ,i    
could never hear the ,ave ,maria bell   
without an elevation1 or think it a     
sufficient warrant1 because they erred  
in one circumstance1 for me to err  in  

all1 that is1 in silence and dumb       
contempt2 whilst therefore they  direct 
their devotions to her1 ,i offer mine to
 ,god1 and rectify the  errors of their 
prayers1 by rightly ordering mine own4  
,at a solemn  procession ,i have wept   
abundantly1 while my consorts1 blind    
with  opposition and prejudice1 have    
fallen into an excess of scorn and      
laughter4  ,there are1 questionless1    
both in ,greek1 ,roman1 and ,african    
churches1 solemnities and ceremonies1   
whereof the wiser zeals do make a       
,christian use1 and stand condemned by  
us1 not as evil in themselves1 but  as  
allurements and baits of superstition to
 those vulgar heads that look  asquint  
on the face of truth1 and those unstable
 judgments that cannot  consist in the  
narrow point and centre of virtue       
without a reel or  stagger to the       
circumference4    ,as for those wingy   
mysteries in divinity1 and airy         
subtleties in  religion1 which have     
unhinged the brains of better heads1    

they never  stretched the pia mater of  
mine4  ,methinks there be not           
impossibilities  enough in religion for 
an active faith2 the deepest mysteries  
ours  contains1 have not only been      
illustrated1 but maintained by          
syllogism1  and the rule of reason4  ,i 
love to lose myself in a mystery1 to    
pursue my  reason to an ,o altitudo6    
,it is my solitary recreation to pose my
  apprehension with those involved      
enigmas and riddles of the ,trinity1    
with  incarnation and resurrection4  ,i 
can answer all the objections of ,satan 
and my rebellious reason1 with that odd 
resolution ,i learned of  ,tertullian1  
,certum est quia impossible est4  ,i    
desire to exercise my  faith in the     
difficultest point2 for to credit       
ordinary and visible  objects1 is not   
faith1 but persuasion4  ,some believe   
the better for  seeing ,christ's        
sepulchre2 and when they have seen the  
,red ,sea1 doubt not  of the miracle4   
,now1 contrarily1 ,i bless myself1 and  

am thankful that ,i  lived not in the   
days of miracles2 that ,i never saw     
,christ nor ,his  disciples4  ,i would  
not have been one of those ,israelites  
that passed the  ,red ,sea1 nor one of  
,christ's patients on whom ,he wrought  
,his wonders2  then had my faith been   
thrust upon me1 nor should ,i enjoy that
 greater  blessing pronounced to all    
that believe and saw not4  ,it is an    
easy and  necessary belief1 to credit   
what our eye and sense hath examined3 ,i
  believe ,he was dead and buried1 and  
rose again2 and desire to see ,him in   
,his glory1 rather than to contemplate  
,him in ,his cenotaph or sepulchre4     
,nor is this much to believe2 as we have
 reason1 we owe this faith unto         
history4  ,they only had the advantage  
of a bold and noble faith1 who  lived   
before ,his coming1 who upon obscure    
prophecies and mystical types  could    
raise a belief and expect apparent      
impossibilities4    ,now for my life1 it
 is a miracle of thirty years1 which to 

relate were  not a history but a piece  
of poetry1 and would sound to common    
ears like  a fable2 for the world1 ,i   
count it not an inn but an hospital2 and
 a  place not to live1 but to die in4   
,the world that ,i regard is myself2 it 
is the microcosm of my own frame that ,i
 cast mine eye on2 for the other1  ,i   
use it but like my globe1 and turn it   
round sometimes for my  recreation4     
,men that look upon my outside1 perusing
 only my condition  and fortunes1 do err
 in my altitude1 for ,i am above        
,atlas's shoulders4  ,the earth is a    
point1 not only in respect of the       
heavens above us1 but of  that heavenly 
and celestial part within us2 that mass 
of flesh that  circumscribes me limits  
not my mind2 that surface that tells the
 heaven  it hath an end cannot persuade 
me ,i have any4  ,i take my circle to be
  above three hundred and sixty4        
,though the number of the arc do measure
  my body it comprehendeth not my mind4 
,whilst ,i study to find how ,i am a    

microcosm1 or little world1 ,i find     
myself something more than the great4   
,there is surely a piece of divinity in 
us1 something that was before the       
elements1 and owes no homage unto the   
sun4  ,nature tells me ,i am the  image 
of ,god1 as well as ,scripture4  ,he    
that understands not thus much  hath not
 his introduction1 or first lesson1 and 
is yet to begin the  alphabet of man4   
,,on ,,god      ,in my solitary and     
retired imagination1 ,i remember ,i am  
not alone1 and  therefore forget not to 
contemplate ,him and ,his attributes who
 is ever  with me1 especially those two 
mighty ones1 ,his wisdom and eternity2  
with  the one ,i recreate1 with the     
other ,i confound my understanding3 for 
who  can speak of eternity without a    
solecism1 or think thereof without an   
ecstasy8  ,time we may comprehend4  ,it 
is but five days older than  ourselves1 
and hath the same horoscope with the    
world2 but to retire so  far back as to 
apprehend a beginning1 to give such an  

infinite start  forwards as to conceive 
an end in an essence that we affirm hath
 neither  the one nor the other1 it puts
 my reason to ,st4 ,paul's sanctuary4   
,my  philosophy dares not say the angels
 can do it2 ,god hath not made a        
creature that can comprehend ,him2 it is
 a privilege of ,his own nature4  ',i   
am that ,i am1' was ,his own definition 
unto ,moses2 and it was a short one1  to
 confound mortality1 that durst question
 ,god1 or ask ,him what ,he was2  indeed
 ,he only is2 all others have been and  
shall be4  ,but in eternity  there is no
 distinction of tenses2 and therefore   
that terrible term1  predestination1    
which hath troubled so many weak heads  
to conceive1 and  the wisest to explain1
 is in respect to ,god no prescious     
determination of  our estates to come1  
but a definitive blast of ,his will     
already  fulfilled1 and at the instant  
that ,he first decreed it2 for to ,his  
eternity which is indivisible1 and      
altogether1 the last trump is already   

sounded1 the reprobates in the flame1   
and the blessed in ,abraham's bosom4    
,that other attribute wherewith ,i      
recreate my devotion is ,his wisdom1 in 
which ,i am happy2 and for the          
contemplation of this only1 do not      
repent  me that ,i was bred in the way  
of study3 the advantage ,i have of the  
vulgar1 with the content and happiness  
,i conceive therein1 is an ample        
recompense for all my endeavours1 in    
what part of knowledge soever1  ,wisdom 
is ,his most beauteous attribute2 no man
 can attain unto it3 yet  ,solomon      
pleased ,god when he desired it4  ,he is
 wise1 because ,he knows all  things2   
and ,he knoweth all things1 because ,he 
made them all3 but ,his  greatest       
knowledge is in comprehending that ,he  
made not1 that is1  ,himself4  ,and this
 is also the greatest knowledge in man4 
,for this do ,i  honour my own          
profession1 and embrace the counsel even
 of the devil  himself3 had he read such
 a lecture in paradise1 as he did at    

,delphos1 we  had better known          
ourselves2 nor had we stood in fear to  
know him4  ,i know  ,god is wise in all1
 wonderful in what we conceive1 but far 
more in what  we comprehend not2 for we 
behold ,him but asquint upon reflex or  
shadow2  our understanding is dimmer    
than ,moses' eye2 we are ignorant of the
 back  parts or lower side of ,his      
divinity2 therefore to pry into the maze
 of  ,his counsels1 is not only folly in
 man1 but presumption even in angels2   
like us1 they are ,his servants1 not    
,his senators2 ,he holds no counsel1    
but that mystical one of the ,trinity1  
wherein though there be three  persons1 
there is but one mind that decrees      
without contradiction3 nor  needs ,he   
any2 ,his actions are not begot with    
deliberation1 ,his wisdom  naturally    
knows what is best2 ,his intellect      
stands ready fraught with the           
superlative and purest ideas of         
goodness2 consultation and election1    
which are two motions in us1 make but   

one in ,him2 ,his action springing  from
 ,his power1 at the first touch of ,his 
will4  ,these are contemplations        
metaphysical3 my humble speculations    
have another method1 and are content  to
 trace and discover those expressions he
 hath left in ,his creatures1  and the  
obvious effects of nature2 there is no  
danger to profound these  mysteries1 no 
sanctum sanctorum in philosophy3 the    
world was made to be  inhabited by      
beasts2 but studied and contemplated by 
man3 it is the debt  of our reason we   
owe unto ,god1 and the homage we pay for
 not being  beasts2 without this1 the   
world is still as though it had not     
been1 or as  it was before the sixth    
day1 when as yet there was not a        
creature that  could conceive1 or say   
there was a world4  ,the wisdom of ,god 
receives  small honour from those vulgar
 heads that rudely stare about1 and with
 a  gross rusticity admire ,his works2  
those highly magnify ,him1 whose        
judicious inquiry into ,his acts1 and   

deliberate research into ,his           
creatures1 return the duty of a devout  
and learned admiration4  ,therefore     
,search where thou wilt1 and let thy    
reason go     ,to ransom truth even to  
th' abyss below2     ,rally the         
scattered causes3 and that line         
,which nature twists1 be able to        
untwine2     ,it is thy ,maker's will1  
for unto none1     ,but unto reason can 
,he e'er be known4        ,,on ,,the    
,,spirit ,,of ,,god      ,however1 ,i am
 sure there is a common spirit that     
plays within us1 yet  makes no part in  
us2 and that is the ,spirit of ,god1 the
 fire and  scintillation of that noble  
and mighty essence1 which is the life   
and  radical heat of spirits1 and those 
essences that know not the virtue of    
the sun1 a fire quite contrary to the   
fire of hell4  ,this is that gentle     
heat that brooded on the waters1 and in 
six days hatched the world2 this  is    
that irradiation that dispels the mists 
of hell1 the clouds of horror1  fear1   

sorrow1 despair2 and preserves the      
region of the mind in serenity4         
,whatsoever feels not the warm gale and 
gentle ventilation of this spirit       
7though ,i feel his pulse71 ,i dare not 
say he lives2 for truly without  this1  
to me there is no heat under the tropic2
 nor any light1 though ,i  dwelt in the 
body of the sun4       ,as when the     
labouring sun hath wrought his track    
,up to the top of lofty ,cancer's back1 
,the icy ocean cracks1 the frozen pole  
,thaws with the heat of the celestial   
coal2     ,so when ,thy absent beams    
begin t'impart     ,again a solstice on 
my frozen heart1     ,my winter's o'er1 
my drooping spirits sing1     ,and every
 part revives into a spring4     ,but if
 ,thy quick'ning beams awhile decline1  
,and with their light bless not this orb
 of mine1     ,a chilly frost surpriseth
 every member1     ,and in the midst of 
,june ,i feel ,december4     ,o how this
 earthly temper doth debase     ,the    
noble soul1 in this her humble place6   

,whose wingy nature ever doth aspire    
,to reach that place whence first it    
took its fire4     ,these flames ,i     
feel1 which in my heart do dwell1       
,are not ,thy beams1 but take their fire
 from hell4     ,o quench them all1 and 
let ,thy light divine1     ,be as the   
sun to this poor orb of mine3     ,and  
to ,thy sacred spirit convert those     
fires1     ,whose earthly fumes choke my
 devout aspires4        ,,on ,,the      
,,mercy ,,of ,,god      ,the great      
attribute of ,god--,his mercy2 and1 to  
be true1 and speak my  soul1 when ,i    
survey the occurrences of my life1 and  
call into account the  finger of ,god1  
,i can perceive nothing but an abyss and
 mass of mercies1  either in general to 
mankind1 or in particular to myself3 and
 whether out  of the prejudice of my    
affection1 or an inverting and partial  
conceit of  ,his mercies1 ,i know not2  
but those which others term crosses1    
afflictions1 judgments1 misfortunes1 to 
me1 who inquire further into them  than 

their visible effects1 they both appear1
 and in event have ever  proved1 the    
secret and dissembled favours of ,his   
affection4  ,it is a  singular piece of 
wisdom to apprehend truly1 and without  
passion1 the  works of ,god2 and so well
 to distinguish ,his justice from ,his  
mercy1 as  not to miscall those noble   
attributes2 yet it is likewise an honest
 piece  of logic1 so to dispute and     
argue the proceedings of ,god1 as to    
distinguish even ,his judgments into    
mercies4  ,for ,god is merciful unto    
all1 because better to the worst than   
the best deserve2 and to say ,he        
punisheth none in this world1 though it 
be a paradox1 is no absurdity4  ,to  one
 that hath committed murder1 if the     
judge should only ordain a fine1  it    
were a madness to call this a           
punishment1 and to repine at the        
sentence rather than admire the clemency
 of the judge4  ,thus our offences      
being mortal1 and deserving not only    
death1 but damnation2 if the  goodness  

of ,god be content to traverse and pass 
them over with a loss1  misfortune1 or  
disease1 what frenzy were it to term    
this a punishment1  rather than an      
extremity of mercy2 and to groan under  
the rod of ,his  judgments1 rather than 
admire the sceptre of ,his mercies6     
,,on ,,the ,,holy ,,scriptures          
,such ,i do believe the holy            
,scriptures2 yet were it of man1 ,i     
could not  choose but say1 it was the   
singularest1 and superlative piece that 
hath  been extant since the creation2   
were ,i a ,pagan1 ,i should not refrain 
the  lecture of it1 and cannot but      
commend the judgment of ,ptolemy1 that  
thought not his library complete without
 it4  ,the ,alcoran of the ,turks 7,i   
speak without prejudice7 is an          
ill-composed piece1 containing in it    
vain  and ridiculous errors in          
philosophy1 impossibilities1 fictions1  
and  vanities beyond laughter1          
maintained by evident and open sophisms1
 the  policy of ignorance1 deposition of

 universities1 and banishment of        
learning1 that hath gotten foot by arms 
and violence2 this1 without a  blow1    
hath disseminated itself through the    
whole earth4  ,it is not  unremarkable  
what ,philo first observed1 that the law
 of ,moses continued  two thousand years
 without the least alteration2 whereas1 
we see the laws  of other commonwealths 
do alter with occasions2 and even those 
that  pretend their original from some  
divinity1 to have vanished without trace
  or memory4  ,i believe1 besides       
,zoroaster1 there were divers that wrote
  before ,moses1 who1 notwithstanding1  
have suffered the common fate of  time4 
,men's works have an age like           
themselves1 and though they outlive     
their authors1 yet have they a stint and
 period to their duration4  ,this  only 
is a work too hard for the teeth of     
time1 and cannot perish but in  the     
general flames1 when all things shall   
confess their ashes4    ,rest not in the
 high-strained paradoxes of old         

philosophy1 supported by  naked reason1 
and the reward of mortal felicity2 but  
labour in the ethics  of faith1 built   
upon heavenly assistance1 and the       
happiness of both  beings4  ,understand 
the rules1 but swear not unto the       
doctrines of ,zeno  or ,epicurus4  ,look
 beyond ,antonius1 and terminate not thy
 morals in  ,seneca or ,epictetus4  ,let
 not the twelve but the two tables be   
thy law3  let ,pythagoras be thy        
remembrancer1 not thy textuary and final
  instructor3 and learn the vanity of   
the world1 rather from ,solomon than    
,phocylydes4  ,sleep not in the dogmas  
of the ,peripatus1 ,academy1 or         
,porticus4  ,be a moralist of the mount1
 an ,epictetus in the faith1 and        
christianise thy notions4        ,,on   
,,providence      ,and truly there goes 
a great deal of providence to produce a 
man's life  unto threescore2 there is   
more required than an able temper for   
those  years2 though the radical humour 
contain in it sufficient oil for        

seventy1 yet ,i perceive in some it     
gives no light past thirty3 men assign  
not all the causes of long life1 that   
write whole books thereof4  ,they  that 
found themselves on the radical balsam1 
or vital sulphur of the  parts1         
determine not why ,abel lived not so    
long as ,adam4  ,there is  therefore a  
secret glome or bottom of our days2 it  
was his wisdom to  determine them1 but  
his perpetual and waking providence that
 fulfils and  accomplishes them2 wherein
 the spirits1 ourselves1 and all the    
creatures  of ,god in a secret and      
disputed way do execute ,his will4  ,let
 them not1  therefore1 complain of      
immaturity that die about thirty3 they  
fall but  like the whole world1 whose   
solid and well-composed substance must  
not  expect the duration and period of  
its constitution2 when all things are   
completed in it1 its age is             
accomplished2 and the last and general  
fever  may as naturally destroy it      
before six thousand1 as me before forty4

  ,there is therefore some other hand   
that twines the thread of life than     
that of nature2 we are not only ignorant
 in antipathies and occult  qualities2  
our ends are as obscure as our          
beginnings2 the line of our  days is    
drawn by night1 and the various effects 
therein by a pencil that  is invisible2 
wherein1 though we confess our          
ignorance1 ,i am sure we do  not err if 
we say it is the hand of ,god4          
,,on ,,angels      ,therefore for       
spirits1 ,i am so far from denying their
 existence1 that ,i  could easily       
believe1 that not only whole countries1 
but particular  persons have their      
tutelary and guardian angels2 it is not 
a new opinion  of the ,church of ,rome1 
but an old one of ,pythagoras and       
,plato3 there is  no heresy in it1 and  
if not manifestly defined in ,scripture1
 yet is an  opinion of a good and       
wholesome use in the course and actions 
of a man's  life1 and would serve as an 
hypothesis to solve many doubts1 whereof

  common philosophy affordeth no        
solution4  ,now1 if you demand my       
opinion  and metaphysics of their       
natures1 ,i confess them very shallow1  
most of  them in a negative way1 like   
that of ,god2 or in a comparative1      
between  ourselves and fellow-creatures2
 for there is in this universe a stair1 
or  manifest scale of creatures1 rising 
not disorderly or in confusion1 but     
with a comely method and proportion4    
,between creatures of mere existence    
and things of life1 there is a large    
disproportion of nature2 between  plants
 and animals and creatures of sense1 a  
wider difference2 between  them and man1
 a far greater3 and if the proportion   
hold on1 between man  and angels there  
should be yet a greater4  ,we do not    
comprehend their  natures1 who retain   
the first definition of ,porphyry1 and  
distinguish  them from ourselves by     
immortality2 for before his fall1 it is 
thought  man also was immortal2 yet must
 we needs affirm that he had a different

  essence from the angels2 having1      
therefore1 no certain knowledge of their
  natures1 it is no bad method of the   
schools1 whatsoever perfection we  find 
obscurely in ourselves1 in a more       
complete and absolute way to  ascribe   
unto them4  ,i believe they have an     
extemporary knowledge1 and  upon the    
first motion of their reason do what we 
cannot without study or  deliberation2  
that they know things by their forms1   
and define by  specifical difference    
what we describe by accidents and       
properties2 and  therefore probabilities
 to us may be demonstrations unto them3 
that they  have knowledge not only of   
the specifical1 but numerical forms of  
individuals1 and understand by what     
reserved difference each single         
hypostasis 7besides the relation to its 
species7 becomes its numerical  self4   
,that as the soul hath power to move the
 body it informs1 so there  is a faculty
 to move any1 though inform none2 ours  
upon restraint of  time1 place1 and     

distance2 but that invisible hand that  
conveyed ,habakkuk  to the lions' den1  
or ,philip to ,azotos1 infringeth this  
rule1 and hath a  secret conveyance1    
wherewith mortality is not acquainted4  
,if they have  that intuitive knowledge1
 whereby1 as in reflection1 they behold 
the  thoughts of one another1 ,i cannot 
peremptorily deny but they know a great 
part of ours4  ,they that to refute the 
invocation of saints have denied  that  
they have any knowledge of our affairs  
below1 have proceeded too  far1 and must
 pardon my opinion1 till ,i can         
thoroughly answer that piece  of        
,scripture1 ',at the conversion of a    
sinner the angels in heaven  rejoice4'  
,i cannot with those in that great      
,father securely interpret  the work of 
the first day1 fiat lux1 to the creation
 of angels1 though  ,i confess there is 
not any creature that hath so near a    
glimpse of their  nature1 as light in   
the sun and elements4  ,we style it a   
bare accident1  but where it subsists   

alone it is a spiritual substance1 and  
may be an  angel3 in brief1 conceive    
light invisible1 and that is a spirit4  
,i could never pass that sentence of    
,paracelsus1 without an asterisk1 or    
annotation2 ,ascendens constellatum     
multa revelat1 quaerentibus magnalia    
naturae1 i4e4 opera ,dei4  ,i do think  
that many mysteries ascribed to  our own
 inventions have been the courteous     
revelations of spirits2 for  those noble
 essences in heaven bear a friendly     
regard unto their fellow-  nature on    
earth2 and therefore believe that those 
many prodigies and  ominous prognostics 
which forerun the ruins of states1      
princes1 and  private persons are the   
charitable premonitions of good angels1 
which  more careless inquiries term but 
the effects of chance and nature4       
,,on ,,man      ,these are certainly the
 magisterial and masterpieces of the    
,creator1 the  flower1 or 7as we may    
say7 the best part of nothing1 actually 
existing1  what we are but in hopes1 and

 probability2 we are only that          
amphibious  piece between a corporeal   
and spiritual essence1 that middle form 
that  links those two together1 and     
makes good the method of ,god and       
nature1  that jumps not from extremes1  
but unites the incompatible distances by
  some middle and participating natures4
  ,that we are the breath and           
similitude of ,god1 it is indisputable1 
and upon record of holy ,scripture2  but
 to call ourselves a microcosm1 or      
little world1 ,i thought it only a      
pleasant trope of rhetoric1 till my near
 judgment and second thoughts  told me  
there was a real truth therein3 for     
first we are a rude mass1 and  in the   
rank of creatures1 which only are1 and  
have a dull kind of being  not yet      
privileged with life1 or preferred to   
sense or reason2 next we  live the life 
of plants1 the life of animals1 the life
 of men1 and at  last the life of       
spirits1 running in one mysterious      
nature those five  kinds of existences1 

which comprehend the creatures not only 
of the world  but of the universe2 thus 
is man that great and true amphibium1   
whose  nature is disposed to live not   
only like other creatures in divers     
elements1 but in divided and            
distinguished worlds3 for though there  
be  but one to sense1 there are two to  
reason2 the one visible1 the other      
invisible1 whereof ,moses seems to have 
left description1 and of the other  so  
obscurely1 that some parts thereof are  
yet in controversy4  ,and truly  for the
 first chapters of ,genesis1 ,i must    
confess a great deal of  obscurity2     
though divines have to the power of     
human reason endeavoured  to make all go
 in a literal meaning1 yet those        
allegorical  interpretations are also   
probable1 and perhaps the mystical      
method of  ,moses1 bred up in the       
hieroglyphical schools of the           
,egyptians4    ,the whole creation is a 
mystery1 and particularly that of man4  
,at the  blast of ,his mouth were the   

rest of the creatures made1 and at ,his 
bare  word they started out of nothing3 
but in the frame of man 7as the text    
describes it7 he played the sensible    
operator1 and seemed not so much to     
create1 as make him4  ,when he had      
separated the materials of other        
creatures1 there consequently resulted a
 form and soul2 but having raised  the  
walls of man1 he was driven to a second 
and harder creation of a  substance like
 himself1 an incorruptible and immortal 
soul4 4 4 4  ,in our  study of anatomy  
there is a mass of mysterious           
philosophy1 and such as  reduced the    
very heathens to divinity2 yet amongst  
all those rare  discoveries1 and curious
 pieces ,i find in the fabric of man1 ,i
 do not so  much content myself1 as in  
that ,i find not--that is1 no organ or  
instrument for the rational soul3 for in
 the brain1 which we term the  seat of  
reason1 there is not anything of moment 
more than ,i can discover  in the       
cranium of a beast3 and this is a       

sensible and no inconsiderable  argument
 of the inorganity of the soul1 at least
 in that sense we usually  so conceive  
it4  ,thus we are men1 and we know not  
how2 there is something  in us that can 
be without us1 and will be after us1    
though it is strange  that it hath no   
history what it was before us1 nor      
cannot tell how it  entered in us4      
,,on ,,nature      ,thus there are two  
books from whence ,i collect my         
divinity--besides that  written one of  
,god1 another of ,his servant nature2   
that universal and  public manuscript1  
that lies expanded unto the eyes of     
all--those that  never saw ,him in the  
one1 have discovered ,him in the other4 
,this was the  scripture and theology of
 the heathens2 the natural motion of the
 sun  made them more admire ,him1 than  
its supernatural station did the        
children  of ,israel2 the ordinary      
effects of nature wrought more          
admiration in them  than in the other   
all ,his miracles3 surely the heathens  

knew better how  to join and read these 
mystical letters1 than we ,christians1  
who cast a  more careless eye on these  
common hieroglyphics1 and disdain to    
suck  divinity from the flowers of      
nature4  ,nor do ,i so forget ,god as to
 adore  the name of nature2 which ,i    
define not with the schools1 to be the  
principle of motion and rest1 but that  
straight and regular line1 that  settled
 and constant course the wisdom of ,god 
hath ordained the actions  of ,his      
creatures1 according to their several   
kinds4  ,to make a revolution  every    
day1 is the nature of the sun1 because  
of that necessary course  which ,god    
hath ordained it1 from which it cannot  
swerve1 by a faculty  from that voice   
which first did give it motion4  ,now   
this course of  nature ,god seldom      
alters or perverts1 but like an         
excellent artist hath  so contrived ,his
 work1 that with the selfsame           
instrument1 without a new  creation1 ,he
 may effect ,his obscurest designs4     

,thus ,he sweeteneth the  water with a  
wood1 preserveth the creatures in the   
ark1 which the blast  of ,his mouth     
might have as easily created2 for ,god  
is like a skilful  geometrician1 who    
when more easily1 and with one stroke of
 his compass1  he might describe or     
divide a right line1 had yet rather to  
do this in a  circle or longer way1     
according to the constituted and        
fore-laid  principles of his art3 yet   
this rule of ,his ,he doth sometimes    
pervert1 to  acquaint the world with    
,his prerogative1 lest the arrogancy of 
our reason  should question ,his power1 
and conclude ,he could not4  ,and thus  
,i call  the effects of nature the works
 of ,god1 whose hand and instrument she 
only is2 and therefore to ascribe ,his  
actions unto her1 is to devolve the     
honour of the principal agent upon the  
instrument2 which1 if with reason  we   
may do1 then let our hammers rise up and
 boast they have built our  houses1 and 
our pens receive the honour of our      

writing4 4 4 4  ,now nature  is not at  
variance with art1 nor art with nature3 
they being both  servants of ,his       
providence4  ,art is the perfection of  
nature3 were the  world now as it was   
the sixth day1 there were yet a chaos4  
,nature hath  made one world1 and art   
another4  ,in brief1 all things are     
artificial2  for nature is the art of   
,god4        ,,on ,,philosophy          
,beware of philosophy1 is a precept not 
to be received in too large a  sense2   
for in this mass of nature there is a   
set of things that carry in  their      
front1 though not in capital letters1   
yet in stenography1 and short           
characters1 something of divinity1 which
 to wiser reasons serve as  luminaries  
in the abyss of knowledge1 and to       
judicious beliefs1 as scales  and       
rundles to mount the pinnacles and      
highest pieces of divinity4  ,the       
severe schools shall never laugh me out 
of the philosophy of ,hermes1 that  this
 visible world is but a picture of the  

invisible1 wherein1 as in a  portrait1  
things are not truly1 but in equivocal  
shapes1 and as they  counterfeit some   
real substance in that invisible fabric4
        ,,on ,,final ,,cause      ,there
 is but one first cause1 and four second
 causes of all things2 some  are without
 efficient1 as ,god2 others without     
matter1 as angels2 some  without form1  
as the first matter3 but every essence1 
created or  uncreated1 hath its final   
cause1 and some positive end both of its
  essence and operation2 this is the    
cause ,i grope after in the works of    
nature2 on this hangs the providence of 
,god4  ,to raise so beauteous a         
structure1 as the world and the         
creatures thereof1 was but ,his art2 but
  their sundry and divided operations1  
with their predestinated ends1 are  from
 the treasure of ,his wisdom4  ,in the  
causes1 nature1 and affections  of the  
eclipses of the sun and moon1 there is  
most excellent speculation2  but to     
profound farther1 and to contemplate a  

reason why ,his providence  hath so     
disposed and ordered their motions in   
that vast circle1 as to  conjoin and    
obscure each other1 is a sweeter piece  
of reason1 and a  diviner point of      
philosophy2 therefore sometimes1 and in 
some things1  there appears to me as    
much divinity in ,galen's books ,de ,usu
 ,partium1  as in ,suarez's             
,metaphysics3 had ,aristotle been as    
curious in the inquiry  of this cause as
 he was of the other1 he had not left   
behind him an  imperfect piece of       
philosophy1 but an absolute tract of    
divinity4        ,,on ,,death      ,this
 is that dismal conquest we all deplore1
 that makes us so often cry1  ,o ,adam1 
quid fecisti8  ,i thank ,god ,i have not
 those straight ligaments  or narrow    
obligations to the world as to dote on  
life1 or be convulsed  and tremble at   
the name of death4  ,not that ,i am     
insensible of the dread  and horror     
thereof1 or by raking into the bowels of
 the deceased1  continual sight of      

anatomies1 skeletons1 or cadaverous     
relics1 like  vespilloes1 or            
grave-makers1 ,i am become stupid1 or   
have forgot the  apprehension of        
mortality2 but that marshalling all the 
horrors1 and  contemplating the         
extremities thereof1 ,i find not        
anything therein able  to daunt the     
courage of a man1 much less a           
well-resolved ,christian4  ,and         
therefore am not angry at the error of  
our first parents1 or unwilling to  bear
 a part of this common fate1 and like   
the best of them to die1 that  is1 to   
cease to breathe1 to take a farewell of 
the elements1 to be a kind  of nothing  
for a moment1 to be within one instant  
of a spirit4  ,when ,i  take a full view
 and circle of myself1 without this     
reasonable moderator  and equal piece of
 justice1 death1 ,i do conceive myself  
the miserablest  person extant4  ,were  
there not another life that ,i hope for1
 all the  vanities of this world should 
not entreat a moment's breath for me2   

could  the devil work my belief to      
imagine ,i could never die1 ,i would not
  outlive that very thought2 ,i have so 
abject a conceit of this common way  of 
existence1 this retaining to the sun and
 elements1 ,i cannot think this  is to  
be a man1 or to live according to the   
dignity of humanity4  ,in  expectation  
of a better1 ,i can with patience       
embrace this life1 yet in my  best      
meditations do often desire death4  ,i  
honour any man that contemns  it1 nor   
can ,i highly love any that is afraid of
 it3 this makes me  naturally love a    
soldier1 and honour those tattered and  
contemptible  regiments that will die at
 the command of a sergeant4  ,for a     
pagan there  may be some motives to be  
in love with life2 but for a ,christian 
to be  amazed at death1 ,i see not how  
he can escape this dilemma1 that he is  
too  sensible of this life or hopeless  
of the life to come4    ,i am naturally 
bashful1 nor hath conversation1 age1 or 
travel1 been able  to effront or        

enharden me2 yet ,i have one part of    
modesty which ,i have  seldom discovered
 in another1 that is1 7to speak truly71 
,i am not so much  afraid of death1 as  
ashamed thereof4  ,it is the very       
disgrace and  ignominy of our natures1  
that in a moment can so disfigure us1   
that our  nearest friends1 wife and     
children stand afraid and start at us4  
,the  birds and beasts of the field1    
that before in a natural fear obeyed us1
  forgetting all allegiance1 begin to   
prey upon us4  ,this very conceit hath  
in a tempest disposed and left me       
willing to be swallowed up in the abyss 
of waters2 wherein ,i had perished      
unseen1 unpitied1 without wondering     
eyes1 tears of pity1 lectures of        
mortality1 and none had said1 ,quantum  
mutatus ab illo6  ,not that ,i am       
ashamed of the anatomy of my parts1 or  
can accuse nature for playing the       
bungler in any part of me1 or my own    
vicious life for contracting any        
shameful disease upon me1 whereby ,i    

might not call myself as wholesome a    
morsel for the worms as any4        ,,on
 ,,heaven      ,now1 the necessary      
mansions of our restored selves are     
those two contrary  and incompatible    
places we call heaven and hell2 to      
define them1 or  strictly to determine  
what and where these are1 surpasseth my 
divinity4  ,that elegant apostle which  
seemed to have a glimpse of heaven hath 
left  but a negative description        
thereof3 'which neither eye hath seen1  
nor ear  hath heard1 nor can enter into 
the heart of man'3 he was translated out
  of himself to behold it2 but being    
returned into himself could not  express
 it4  ,st4 ,john's description by       
emeralds1 chrysolites1 and  precious    
stones is too weak to express the       
material heaven we behold4  ,briefly1   
therefore1 where the soul hath the full 
measure and complement  of happiness1   
where the boundless appetite of that    
spirit remains  completely satisfied    
that it can neither desire addition nor 

alteration1  that ,i think is truly     
heaven3 and this can only be in the     
enjoyment of  that essence whose        
infinite goodness is able to terminate  
the desires of  itself1 and the         
insatiable wishes of ours2 wherever ,god
 will thus  manifest ,himself1 there is 
heaven1 though within the circle of this
  sensible world4  ,thus the soul of man
 may be in heaven anywhere1 even  within
 the limits of his own proper body2 and 
when it ceaseth to live in  the body it 
may remain in its own soul1 that is1 its
 ,creator4  ,and thus  we may say that  
,st4 ,paul1 whether in the body1 or out 
of the body1 was  yet in heaven4 4 4 4  
,moses1 that was bred up in all the     
learning of the  ,egyptians1 committed a
 gross absurdity in philosophy when with
 these eyes  of flesh he desired to see 
,god1 and petitioned his ,maker1 that is
 truth  itself1 to a contradiction4     
,,on ,,hell      ,men commonly set forth
 the torments of hell by fire1 and the  
extremity of  corporeal afflictions1 and

 describe hell in the same method that  
,mahomet  doth heaven4  ,this indeed    
makes a noise1 and drums in popular     
ears2 but  if this be the terrible piece
 thereof1 it is not worthy to stand in  
diameter with heaven1 whose happiness   
consists in that part that is best  able
 to comprehend it1 that immortal        
essence1 that translated divinity  and  
colony of ,god1 the soul4  ,surely1     
though we place hell under earth1  the  
devil's walk and purlieu is about it3   
men speak too popularly who  place it in
 those flaming mountains1 which to      
grosser apprehensions  represent hell4  
,the heart of man is the place the      
devils dwell in4  ,i  feel sometimes a  
hell within myself2 ,lucifer keeps his  
court in my  breast2 ,legion is revived 
in me4  ,there are as many hells as     
,anaxagoras  conceited worlds4  ,there  
was more than one hell in ,magdalene1   
when there  were seven devils2 for every
 devil is a hell unto himself4  ,he     
holds  enough of torture in his own ubi1

 and needs not the misery of            
circumference to afflict him4  ,and     
thus1 a distracted conscience here1 is  
a shadow or introduction unto hell      
hereafter4  ,who can but pity the       
merciful intention of those hands that  
do destroy themselves8  ,the devil1     
were it in his power1 would do the like2
 which being impossible1 his  miseries  
are endless1 and he suffers most in that
 attribute wherein he is                
impassible--his immortality4    ,i thank
 ,god that 7with joy ,i mention it7 ,i  
was never afraid of hell1 nor  never    
grew pale at the description of that    
place4  ,i have so fixed my             
contemplations on heaven1 that ,i have  
almost forgot the idea of hell1 and  am 
afraid rather to lose the joys of the   
one1 than endure the misery of  the     
other--to be deprived of them is a      
perfect hell1 and needs1 methinks1  no  
addition to complete our afflictions4   
,that terrible term hath never  detained
 me from sin1 nor do ,i owe any good    

action to the name thereof4  ,i  fear   
,god1 yet am not afraid of ,him2 ,his   
mercies make me ashamed of my  sins1    
before ,his judgments afraid thereof4   
,these are the forced and  secondary    
methods of ,his wisdom1 which ,he useth 
but as the last remedy1  and upon       
provocation2 a course rather to deter   
the wicked1 than incite  the virtuous to
 ,his worship4  ,i can hardly think     
there was ever any  scared into heaven3 
they go the fairest way to heaven that  
would serve  ,god without a hell4       
,other mercenaries that crouch unto     
,him1 in fear of  hell1 though they term
 themselves the servants1 are indeed but
 the slaves  of the ,almighty4          
,,on ,,prayer      ,i cannot contentedly
 frame a prayer for myself in           
particular1 without a  catalogue for my 
friends2 nor request a happiness wherein
 my sociable  disposition doth not      
desire the fellowship of my neighbour4  
,i never  heard the toll of a           
passing-bell1 though in my mirth1       

without my prayers  and best wishes for 
the departing spirit4  ,i cannot go to  
cure the body  of my patient1 but ,i    
forget my profession1 and call unto ,god
 for his  soul4  ,i cannot see one say  
his prayers1 but instead of imitating   
him1 ,i  fall into a supplication for   
him1 who1 perhaps1 is no more to me than
 a  common nature2 and if ,god hath     
vouchsafed an ear to my supplications1  
there are surely many happy that never  
saw me1 and enjoy the blessing of  my   
unknown devotions4  ,to pray for        
enemies1 that is1 for their salvation1  
is no harsh precept1 but the practice of
 our daily and ordinary  devotions4     
,,on ,,charity      ,the vulgarity of   
those judgments that wrap the ,church of
 ,god in ,strabo's  cloak1 and restrain 
it unto ,europe1 seem to me as bad      
geographers as  ,alexander1 who thought 
he had conquered all the world1 when he 
had not  subdued the half of any part   
thereof4  ,for we cannot deny the       
,church of  ,god both in ,asia and      

,africa1 if we do not forget the        
peregrinations of  the apostles1 the    
deaths of the martyrs1 the sessions of  
many1 and1 even  in our reformed        
judgment1 lawful councils1 held in those
 parts in the  minority and nonage of   
ours4  ,nor must a few differences1 more
 remarkable  in the eyes of man than    
perhaps in the judgment of ,god1        
excommunicate  from heaven one another1 
much less those ,christians who are in a
 manner  all martyrs1 maintaining their 
faith in the noble way of persecution1  
and  serving ,god in the fire1 whereas  
we honour ,him in the sunshine4  ,it is 
true we all hold there is a number of   
elect1 and many to be saved2 yet  take  
our opinions together1 and from the     
confusion thereof there will be  no such
 thing as salvation1 nor shall any one  
be saved4  ,for first1 the  ,church of  
,rome condemneth us1 we likewise them2  
the sub-reformists and  sectaries       
sentence the doctrine of our ,church as 
damnable2 the atomist1  or familist1    

reprobates all these2 and all these them
 again4  ,thus1  whilst the mercies of  
,god do promise us heaven1 our conceits 
and opinions  exclude us from that      
place4  ,there must be therefore more   
than one ,st4  ,peter4  ,particular     
churches and sects usurp the gates of   
heaven1 and turn  the key against each  
other3 and thus we go to heaven against 
each other's  wills1 conceits1 and      
opinions1 and1 with as much uncharity as
 ignorance1  do err1 ,i fear1 in points 
not only of our own1 but one another's  
salvation4    ,i believe many are saved1
 who to man seem reprobated2 and many   
are  reprobated who in the opinion and  
sentence of man stand elected4  ,there  
will appear at the last day strange and 
unexpected examples1 both of ,his       
justice and ,his mercy2 and therefore to
 define either is folly in man1  and    
insolency even in the devils4  ,those   
acute and subtle spirits1 in all  their 
sagacity1 can hardly divine who shall be
 saved2 which if they could             

prognosticate1 their labour were at an  
end2 nor need they compass the  earth1  
seeking whom they may devour4  ,those   
who1 upon a rigid application  of the   
law1 sentence ,solomon unto damnation1  
condemn not only him but  themselves1   
and the whole world2 for by the letter1 
and written word of  ,god1 we are1      
without exception1 in the state of      
death2 but there is a  prerogative of   
,god1 and an arbitrary pleasure above   
the letter of ,his own  law1 by which   
alone we can pretend unto salvation1 and
 through which  ,solomon might be as    
easily saved as those who condemn him4  
,the number of those who pretend unto   
salvation1 and those infinite swarms    
who think to pass through the eye of    
this needle1 have much amazed me4  ,that
 name and compellation of 'little flock'
 doth not comfort but deject  my        
devotion1 especially when ,i reflect    
upon mine own unworthiness1  wherein1   
according to my humble apprehensions1 ,i
 am below them all4  ,i  believe there  

shall never be an anarchy in heaven2 but
 as there are  hierarchies amongst the  
angels1 so shall there be degrees of    
priority  amongst the saints4  ,yet it  
is1 ,i protest1 beyond my ambition to   
aspire  unto the first ranks2 my desires
 only are1 and ,i shall be happy        
therein1  to be but the last man1 and   
bring up the rear in heaven4        ,,on
 ,,the ,,reformation      ,as there were
 many reformers1 so likewise many       
reformations2 every  country proceeding 
in a particular way and method1         
according as their  national interest1  
together with their constitution and    
clime inclined  them2 some angrily1 and 
with extremity2 others calmly1 and with 
mediocrity1 not rending1 but easily     
dividing the community1 and leaving  an 
honest possibility of a reconciliation2 
which1 though peaceable  spirits do     
desire1 and may conceive that revolution
 of time and the  mercies of ,god may   
effect1 yet that judgment that shall    
consider the  present antipathies       

between the two extremes1 their         
contrarieties in  condition1 affection1 
and opinion1 may with the same hopes    
expect a union  in the poles of heaven4 
,it is the promise of ,christ to make us
 all one flock2 but how1 and when  this 
union shall be1 is as obscure to me as  
the last day4        ,,on ,a ,,dying    
,,patient ,,of ,,his      ,upon my first
 visit ,i was bold to tell them who had 
not let fall all  hopes of his recovery1
 that in my sad opinion he was not like 
to behold a  grasshopper1 much less to  
pluck another fig2 and in no long time  
after  seemed to discover that odd      
mortal symptom in him not mentioned by  
,hippocrates1 that is1 to lose his own  
face1 and look like some of his  near   
relations2 for he maintained not his    
proper countenance1 but looked  like his
 uncle1 the lines of whose face lay deep
 and invisible in his  healthful visage 
before3 for as from our beginning we run
 through variety  of looks1 before we   
come to consistent and settled faces2 so

 before our  end1 by sick and           
languishing alterations1 we put on new  
visages3 and in  our retreat to earth1  
may fall upon such looks which from     
community of  seminal originals were    
before latent in us4    ,not to fear    
death1 nor desire it1 was short of his  
resolution3 to be  dissolved1 and be    
with ,christ1 was his dying ditty4  ,he 
conceived his  thread long1 in no long  
course of years1 and when he had scarce 
outlived  the second life of ,lazarus2  
esteeming it enough to approach the     
years of  his ,saviour1 who so ordered  
,his own human state as not to be old   
upon  earth4    ,though age had set no  
seal upon his face1 yet a dim eye might 
clearly  discover fifty in his actions2 
and therefore1 since wisdom is the grey 
hair1 and an unspotted life old age2    
although his years came short1 he  might
 have been said to have held up with    
longer livers1 and to have been         
,solomon's old man4  ,and surely if we  
deduct all those days of our life  which

 we might wish unlived1 and which abate 
the comfort of those we now  live2 if we
 reckon up only those days which ,god   
hath accepted of our  lives1 a life of  
good years will hardly be a span long3  
the son in this  sense may outlive the  
father1 and none be climacterically old4
  ,he that  early arriveth unto the     
parts and prudence of age1 is happily   
old without  the uncomfortable          
attendants of it2 and 'tis superfluous  
to live unto  grey hairs1 when in a     
precocious temper we anticipate the     
virtues of  them4  ,in brief1 he cannot 
be accounted young who outliveth the old
 man4  ,he that hath early arrived unto 
the measure of a perfect stature in     
,christ1 hath already fulfilled the     
prime and longest intention of his      
being3 and one day lived after the      
perfect rule of piety1 is to be         
preferred before sinning immortality4   
,,on ,a ,,heavenly ,,mind      ,lastly2 
if length of days be thy portion1 make  
it not thy expectation4  ,reckon not    

upon long life3 think every day the     
last1 and live always  beyond thy       
account4  ,he that so often surviveth   
his expectation lives  many lives1 and  
will scarce complain of the shortness of
 his days4  ,time  past is gone like a  
shadow2 make time to come present4      
,approximate thy  latter times by       
present apprehensions of them3 be like a
 neighbour unto  the grave1 and think   
there is but little to come4  ,and since
 there is  something of us that will    
still live on1 join both lives together1
 and  live in one but for the other4    
,he who thus ordereth the purposes of   
this  life1 will never be far from the  
next2 and is in some manner already in  
it1 by a happy conformity and close     
apprehension of it4  ,and if1 as we     
have elsewhere declared1 any have been  
so happy1 as personally to  understand  
,christian annihilation1 ecstasy1       
exolution1 transformation1  the kiss of 
the spouse1 and ingression into the     
divine shadow1 according  to mystical   

theology1 they have already had an      
handsome anticipation of  heaven2 the   
world is in a manner over1 and the earth
 in ashes unto them4        ,,on ,,the  
,,religio ,,medici      ,this ,i        
confess1 about seven years past1 with   
some others of affinity  thereto1 for my
 private exercise and satisfaction ,i   
had at leisurable  hours composed2 which
 being communicated unto one1 it became 
common unto  many1 and was by           
transcription successively corrupted1   
until it arrived  in a most depraved    
copy at the press4  ,he that shall      
peruse that work1  and shall take notice
 of sundry particulars and personal     
expressions  therein1 will easily       
discern the intention was not public3   
and being a  private exercise directed  
to myself1 what is delivered therein1   
was  rather a memorial unto me1 than an 
example or rule unto any other3 and     
therefore if there be any singularity   
therein correspondent unto the  private 
conceptions of any man1 it doth not     

advantage them3 or if  dissentaneous    
thereunto1 it no way overthrows them4   
,it was penned in  such a place1 and    
with such disadvantage1 that 7,i        
protest7 from the first  setting of pen 
unto paper1 ,i had not the assistance of
 any good book1  whereby to promote my  
invention1 or relieve my memory1 and    
therefore  there might be many real     
lapses therein1 which others might take 
notice  of1 and more than ,i suspected  
myself4  ,it was set down many years    
past1  and was the sense of my          
conception at that time1 not an         
immutable law  unto my advancing        
judgment at all times2 and therefore    
there might be  many things therein     
plausible unto my past apprehension1    
which are not  agreeable unto my present
 self4  ,there are many things delivered
  rhetorically1 many expressions therein
 merely tropical1 and as they best      
illustrate my intention1 and therefore  
also there are many things to be  taken 
in a soft and flexible sense and not to 

be called unto the rigid  test of       
reason4  ,lastly1 all that is contained 
therein1 is in submission  unto maturer 
discernments2 and as ,i have declared1  
shall no further  father them than the  
best and learned judgments shall        
authorise them2  under favour of which  
considerations ,i have made its secrecy 
public1 and  committed the truth thereof
 to every ingenuous reader4             
,,last ,,lines ,,of ,,the ,,religio     
,,medici      ,bless me in this life    
with but peace of my conscience1 command
 of my  affections1 the love of ,thyself
 and my dearest friends1 and ,i shall be
  happy enough to pity ,caesar4  ,these 
are1 ,o ,lord1 the humble desires of my 
most reasonable ambition1 and all ,i    
dare call happiness on earth2 wherein   
,i set no rule or limit to ,thy hand of 
,providence2 dispose of me according  to
 the wisdom of ,thy pleasure4  ,thy will
 be done1 though in my own  undoing4